


From Me to You

by Joeybird



Category: Fantastic Four, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Bisexual Male Character, M/M, Moreorless, No Johnny doesn't look like Chris Evans, Not so secret identity Peter, Probably more like what he does in the comics, Role Reversal, Secret Identity Johnny, Slow Build, which is kinda what Chris Evans looks like anyway BUT yeah
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-15
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-03-05 09:16:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13384755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joeybird/pseuds/Joeybird
Summary: Peter Parker lives the quiet life, and Johnny Storm lives the one of a superhero, so what would happen if their roles switched?Peter Parker is known as New York's very own Spider-man. The vigilante who help save lives! - to the best of his abilities... Johnny Storm is known to no one, and lives the 'normal' life with his best friends and family - for the most part anyways... What will happen when two boys with very split personalities team up in the most superhero-esque way possible?! Probably nothing good...





	1. The Dr. is In

_**DECEMBER 14 th** _ 

* * *

  

Manhattan was bustling as locals pushed their way about during the morning rush hour. The blaring of horns and the sound of bells ringing from people entering and leaving shops filled the streets, with of course the constant chatter of citizens going about their day. The streets were decorated with all different kinds of holiday decorations, from colored lights that were hung in windows to wreaths on every door within sight. The sky was overcast, and snow gently fell, blanketing the tops of cars and sidewalks alike.

I fixed the loosened black scarf around my neck as a chill went through me, causing me to shiver. Maneuvering through the crowd, I tried my best to keep my eyes on the pavement, hoping no one would notice me. On occasion, somebody’s eyes would perk up as they caught a glance at my face, and if I were in their position, I would probably do the same. It’s not everyday you got to see someone like me. I don’t think highly of myself though despite what people might say. In fact, I think the complete opposite, and I would turn this life over in an instant if it meant getting to live a normal one. It was hard living this life, but I guess someone had to do it.

I was a hero – a super one. Like the kind that have special superpowers and fight crime. But unlike others, I didn’t get paid to do it – not that I’m complaining though. It always felt nice to stop a bank robber dead in their tracks, or help someone who was getting mugged, or even help an elderly cross the street. That last one didn’t really require any sort of superpower, but none the less it felt good to do anyways.

They call me Spider-man – or the menace, a nickname courtesy of the Daily Bugle – but most of the time I like going by Peter Parker. I was one of New York’s very own personal heroes, with an iconic red and blue suit and everything.

I turned into my destination. The door chimed loudly as it was opened, announcing that a new customer arrived. The cool wind blew in through, and I shuffled my way into the warmth while attempting to mat down my hair which had been blown by the gust. The scents of coffee and bagels met my nose and I sighed in delight while stepping into the long line of people. I rarely came to coffee shops – or most public places for that matter, but it was nice to get out every once in a while, even if it didn’t involve socialising. I didn’t have many friends, which the reasons surprisingly aren’t because of the fact that I’m a superhero, but instead are because I just lacked in the skills in that department. I was never really good with the whole _people_ thing, which only got worse with age.

As I reached the head of the line, I greeted the cashier with a warm smile, and she seemed to recognise me instantly.

“M-may I take you’re order, mister?” She sputtered out, eyes wide and nervousness evident.

Mister? I definitely haven’t been called that before. Such a title seemed more suitable for an adult, not for some scrawny seventeen-year-old boy.

“Yeah, I’ll just have a medium sized coffee and a turkey sandwich.”

“Of course!” She said with an unexpected shout, inputting the items into the cash register. “That will be f-five fifty-six please.”

I awkwardly looked away from her gaze and took out my wallet, fishing through to find change. By now the other workers seemed to notice me along with some of the people in the shop. I held out my hand with the change, and the girl opened up hers, which was visibly shaking. After putting it in the register she then told me to wait to the right until my order is ready.

I took a keen interest in my feet at that moment, as I didn’t want to meet the wandering stares that seemed to steer my way.

“It’s definitely him.” A voice whispered. I looked up across from me, to which my eyes landed on one of the booths by the windows. There sat four figures, all chatting intently among themselves; each one looking like they just came from a high school prom. Two girls and two guys – all of them looked to be around my age.

The first girl had red hair, flowing slightly past her shoulders in gentle waves. Her face seemed very welcoming and slightly recognizable, but I couldn’t tell exactly where I knew her from. You could tell just by looking at her that she was kind. She had on a green dress with frills, along with heels a darker shade. Across from her sat the other girl, who was just as pretty. She had straight light blonde hair that just reached her shoulders, with bangs covering her entire forehead. Her face was somehow sharp _and_ smooth looking, cheekbones prominent and slightly pale. She wore dress pants, along with a simple white collar shirt that was slightly unbuttoned, which was rolled up to her elbows.

She spoke in a hushed voice to the boy who sat next to the redhead. He had an average looking build to him, with hair messily slicked back and slightly hollowed cheeks. Overall, he was slightly intimidating, kind of like the classic bully in a cheesy high school movie, but the only difference was instead of a backwards hat, he wore a gray tuxedo that fitted him perfectly.

My eyes shifted over to the last person – the other boy. He had the classic slicked up blond hair and a face that was damn near perfect – like the ones that you would see on a Men’s Health magazine. He too was wearing a tuxedo, only it was all black and was slightly tight around his muscular frame. I watched intently as his lips began moving, speaking hushed whispers to the group he sat with. I couldn’t help but admire his light blue eyes, which I could find myself getting easily lost in.

I decided that he was the most attractive one.

They were _all_ quite attractive though, and as I kept staring, I started to feel self-conscious about my average looking self.

“Sir?” A voice spoke, and I turned around to see the cashier from earlier looking at me, my order held out in her hands.

“Oh, thank you.” I smiled, and she nervously returned the gesture.

As I was about to take my leave, I considered the fact that it was freezing outside, and the toasty sandwich in my hand seemed very appetizing at the moment, so I then decided that I would eat here instead. Glancing around the room, I was quick to notice just how packed the little shop was, and that the only available table was a small one with two chairs which sat right next to where the pretty people were sat. I awkwardly sauntered over, taking the seat furthest away from the booth they were in. I could feel the warmth rise out as I opened the tinfoil. Picking up part of the sandwich, I eagerly took a bite, sighing with happiness as I swallowed. As I went to take another, the chair across from me rattled, and as I looked up, there sat the pretty redhead that had been in the booth.

“Hello.” Her voice was as soothing as running molasses. She gave a slight grin, with emerald eyes bright.

“Uh, hi.” I was hesitant. It was one thing to have the social skills of a spider, but when a pretty girl came into the mix, it was a whole other story. She shifted in her seat a bit before speaking again.

“I’m Mary Jane. You probably don’t remember me, but we were once neighbours.”

“Oh.” I perked up. So that’s where I recognised her from.

“We use to make mud-pies when we were little.” She chuckled, warm smile still radiant.

Ah, Mary Jane Watson. The girl who had been my best friend from the ages of four to seven, and use to come play at my house every single day. That all ended when I left though. It’s been years since I’ve seen her.

“Oh yeah, yeah, I remember.” I returned the smile, remembering the character in front of me as one of the few happy memories I actually had as a child. “I use to call you MJ right?”

“Yes!” She shouted before laughing from her abrupt eagerness, to which I joined in. My eye caught the sight behind her, as the three people she had sat with were all staring at us with a questioning look, the blond guy specifically catching my eye, as he looked at me with some sort of expression that I couldn’t understand. I quickly turned my attention back to her.

“I was going to say I’m Peter, but I’m guessing you already knew that.” _Of course she did, why else would she have approached you, dumbass._

“I’m pretty sure most people in this coffee house knows you’re name.” She lightly laughed before slightly perking up, like she had thought of something. “ _Where everybody knows your name…_ ” She sung. I instantly knew the song.

“… _And they’re always glad you came._ ” I sang back.

A moment of silence passed before we both burst into laughter.

“Oh man,” She said in between laughs. “It’s been forever since I seen that show. Your aunt practically watched that religiously.”

My aunt. . . Now that I thought about it, it had been years since I last saw her, too.

“Well listen.” MJ spoke up, realising how I went silent. “I should get back to my friends, but would I be able to get your number, so maybe we could hang out some time, maybe catch up? Only if you would like too, of course!” She added.

“Y-yeah. . . Yeah, I would really like that.”

“Okay, great!” She cheered before taking out her cellphone to pass over to me. I slowly but surely imputed my number, as I was still not used to the new smart phones, and created a new contact for myself. I passed it back to her, and she gave me another brilliant smile before waving goodbye and returning back to her booth.

I was soon about done my meal, and I got up from my seat and made haste towards the bathroom. As I was on my way back, I began to hear shouting, and when I raced back into the main area, I looked towards the counter to see a man with a gun along with what appeared to be a bag full of money that was just robbed. He spun on his heels and shoved his way out the door all the while a cashier began to yell ‘thief’ and ‘somebody stop that man’.

“Ain’t no rest for the vigilante, I guess.” I sighed. I broke out in a sprint towards the door, shooting a web out towards my sandwich before shoving what little I had left into my mouth.

I was hot on the robber’s trail. The rapid movement of my feet flung slush in all directions as I began to slowly inch closer and closer towards the man. It was a good thing I brought my web-shooters. With acrobatic movements, I dogged the array of civilians that I sprinted past, and carefully began aiming towards the man. I shot two webs, each hitting either of the mans feet, but I cursed under my breath as I realised that it did absolutely nothing due to the snow. I shot a web towards the top edge of a building, and pulled myself up. I shot out another web – and another, and another. Soon I had a steady rhythm going, swinging from building to building as I pursued the thief, until finally, I gave a final swing, and flew downwards, landing on top of the man, and he let out a heavy grunt as he got toppled towards the ground.

“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” I cheekily asked the man. Quickly, I grabbed both of his hands, and despite his best effort to fight me off, I webbed them together along with his feet, making him immobile. Pulling my phone out, I was about to dial the police, but by the sounds of sirens in the distance, I quickly learned that someone beat me to it. It wasn’t long until the cops arrived. They asked me the few routine question and I was on my way before I knew it.

On the path back home, I thought to the conversation that I had with Mary Jane, specifically about my aunt. It really had been a long time since I last seen her, and while I know it was for her own safety, I couldn’t help but feel slightly resentful.

When I was just seven years old my aunt had taken me to a public science exhibit. Since I was only just a kid, I wasn’t near as cautious as I should have been, and I somehow roamed off without my aunt realizing. That was when I found the section on arthropods. I couldn’t remember the exact details, but apparently the spiders there had been irradiated from a type of particle ray, and one of them had gotten lose without anyone knowing. It had landed on my arm, and I of course being a kid, was fascinated by the creature as it made it way down to my hand. Then it bit me, and that’s when _this_ all started.

My aunt and uncle soon found out that I had powers, as one night they had caught me red-handed, scaling up the cupboards in an attempt to reach the cookie jar. They didn’t have the slightest clue on what to do, so they were able to find and call the number to my father’s old college friend.

Tony Stark.

Yes, the _Tony Stark_ that owned Stark Industries. The _Tony Stark_ that was Ironman. After explaining the situation, Tony agreed that it was best for me to stay with the man, as he along with his husband, Steve, would have better control over me. This way, I wouldn’t put my aunt or uncle in any sort of risk. But being young of course, I bawled my eyes out when I had heard the news. I was only just a kid, so I reacted the same way just as I did when my parents gave me away to my aunt and uncle before they died. Being passed around through three different sets of parental figures would have it’s toll on anyone.

After a few years, it was Tony’s idea to go public with me being Spiderman, as it was just too complicated to keep it a secret any longer. I became homeschooled, and slowly but surely, I started to isolate myself from the world around me. Tony saw what revealing my secret did to me, and I knew that he regretted it ever since. But I was use to this life now, and I was use to having Tony and Steve as parents. I was grateful for the fact that they accepted me with open arms.

Sometimes people would ask me why I still wore the mask even though everyone already knows what my face looks like, and I guess to me it was my own personal shield. Something that separated me from Spiderman. A delusion I’ve created.

I looked up as I saw Stark Tower come into view.

Living in luxury sure as hell did have it’s advantages though. The only downside I could think of was the fact that I was more or less living with the _Avengers._

Another question I always got asked was why I wasn’t apart of the Avengers team, and the answer to that is simple. I want to stay a vigilante. I want to be able to freely help people without being restricted to S.H.I.E.L.D’s orders. Of course, staying a vigilante and having my personal identity revealed does complicate things a bit, but I know I could always count on Tony to get me out of any trouble that I might get myself in.

The warm heat from inside the building hit me in a rush as I opened the doors to the entrance of the tower. I was greeted by the receptionist, Darcy Lewis. She was one of Thor’s closest confidants. ‘BFFs’ you could say. When she saw me, she gave a professional smile, but her eyes were questioning.

“Hey, Darce.” I said, leaning onto the reception desk.

“Sup, Pete. Where’d you go off to so early in the morning?” She lifted her brow, fully knowing how much I despised going out in public without my suit.

“Walked around, went to a coffee house, tackled a thief, pretty much the usual.”

“Coffee house, eh?” She stared at me for a moment before going wide eyed, her mouth then turning into a twisted smile. “Oh, did little Peter have a. . . date?”

“W-what? Of course not.” I didn’t sound convincing, and what made things worse was when the blood began rushing to my face.

“Oh you so had a date!” She squealed, clearly amused by my reaction.

“I didn’t, I swear!” I hid my face into my arms, only to look back up. “But I did meet a childhood friend of mine which was. . .” _Strange?_ Now that I thought about it I didn’t exactly know how to feel about the whole Mary Jane situation. “- different.” I finished.

“Really?” Darcy asked, giving me a more serious look.

“Yeah, we use to be neighbours. She was my best friend. It’s been forever since I’ve seen her.”

“Wow, heavy. . .” She responded, falling silent. A ding sounded on the computer net to her, and she quickly turn her attention to it. “Oh by the way, guess who’s in the lab right now with Tony.” She waited for a second, as if she were trying to build suspense. “Dr. Richards.”

I eyes darted up at her, not believing the words she had said. “D-Dr. Richards? Like. . . Like Dr. _Reed_ Richards?”

Her smile grew big. “Yuppers.”

“Oh, no way…” My face was probably lit up like a Christmas tree. “Holy shit!”

Dr. Reed Richards was a brilliant scientist, and dare say, one of the best in the world. That was of course my own opinion though. I was a huge fan of his work, and had been following it for years now – ever since he did a paper on genetic molecular structures and their reaction to radiation compounds.

I quickly looked myself up and down before turning to Darcy. “Do I look okay?”

“As cute as a button!” She jokingly mocked, to which she received a meaningful glare. “But Pete… I’d hate to be the bearer of bad news-”

“So don’t be.” I quickly cut her off, a pleaded look on my face.

“Sorry, Spider, but Tony was very specific about who’s allowed in the lab. He said, and I quote, ‘Make sure Peter doesn’t come in an embarrass me.’”

“Perfect, all I have to do is not embarrass him.”

Darcy rolled her eyes, only to shift her gaze as something caught her eye. “Oh, looks like that wont matter, look who’s coming our way right now.”

At that moment, I couldn’t tell what kind of sound left my mouth, but it sounded like some sort of gargled gasp. My head whipped to the direction of the elevators to the right, only to be met with the sight of an empty lobby. My eyes narrowed, and I turned back to Darcy in question, only to see the sparkling gleam in her eyes.

I knew exactly what just happened. I took the bait, and fell for the trap.

“Rookie mistake.” I mumbled, disappointed with my gullible self.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself Pete. I know I’d react the same if I met Nicki.”

“Who?”

“Um, Nicki Minaj, queen of rap? Please tell me even a nerd such as yourself knows who I’m talking about…”

My eyes narrowed.

Darcy loved to ramble on about things I hadn’t the clue of – or the care, so I’ve learned to tune it out, but I imagine she felt the exact same way when I did the same with – how she would call it – _‘nerd stuff’_. It was pretty ironic considering she graduated top of her science classes in university. Evidently, she could get an incredible job that paid loads more than a receptionist, but she says – and I quote again – ‘it’s too much of a drag.’

My attention shifted back to Darcy, who seemed to be in a trance; continuing to subconsciously speak of the Nicki person I still hadn’t the care for – so much so that it gave me enough time to think of an idea. I had enough leverage to swipe the key card off her desk and shuffle towards the elevator, all before she even noticed I was missing. As I hit the button to the laboratories, the doors began to close, and I heard the faint shout of Darcy calling my name in the distance.

I felt panicked on the ride down. I knew I only had about ten seconds to introduce myself before Tony forcibly removed me, so I was going to make it count. But what would I even say? I usually made a fool out of myself during introductions.

“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea…”

The elevator doors opened, and I was hesitant to step out into the hall. Ahead was the short walkway straight to the doors of the laboratory. I paced myself, each step shakier than the last, until finally I found myself by the door, hovering the key card over the scanner. The door slid open, but it wasn’t from my doing. I jolted back, looking up in shock, staring at the figure hovering in the door.

Tony had on a cold expression, with just the hint of a smirk, as if to mock my failed attempt.

“How-”

“Darcy beeped me.” He cut in, shifting himself while still leaning on the frame, showing me the full extent of his displeasure.

“Oh please Tony! I just want to introduce myself, that’s it!”

“The last time you ‘introduced yourself’, you ended up spilling a flask full of sulfuric acid on Dr. Banner. You are not getting anywhere near this lab while _he_ is here.”

Without another word, he headed back in and the door closed sleekly behind.

“Shit.” I cursed, turning on the balls of my feet and strutted back towards the elevator.

The ding sounded, and the doors opened back up to the lobby. I marched around to the front desk, and chucked the key card at Darcy.

“Oh, hello again, traitor.”

“Hey, I would’ve gotten in trouble too if I hadn’t’ve told Tony.”

My grumpy glare lingered for a moment, before I sighed, letting my head fall back onto the reception counter.

“Mmmm, this _sucks._ ” I grumbled. “I even have a color-coded, fully laminated report on him that I was hoping he could’ve signed.”

“Whoa, nerd alert – _Again.”_ She put her hands up in a joking defense. _“_ If you want to meet the guy that bad, just schedule a meeting or something. I’m sure he’d be more than willing to meet with Mr. Spider-man.”

“No… no I thought about doing that, but I don’t want to come off as some desperate fanboy.”

“But you _are_ a desperate fanboy.” Darcy stated the obvious.

“Yeah, well he doesn’t know that!”

That seemed to make Darcy laugh. “Well I’m out of ideas.”

“You had one idea.”

“Yeah, and that was my only one. Let me know how it turns out!” She said, putting her feet up onto the desk and pulling out her phone. I only shook my head from laughter.

I imagine by that point, she wouldn’t notice my continued presence, so I said my goodbyes, and walked back to the elevator, hitting the button for the penthouse. It took about a minute to get to the top, so I sat down, crossing my legs. The Manhattan skyline soon came into view, and I gazed out through the glass walls as the elevator as it made it’s way up. I always found it so peaceful in here. It was easy to relax, and for fun I would sometimes take pictures with my camera as I rode it up and down, all the while listening to the music, which seemed to always play the gentle strum of a guitar. It seemed ridiculous to say, but it was my safe haven. A way to escape my problems. My personal drug which I abuse on the occasion.

“Having a good day, Mr. Parker?” A voice said on the intercom, cutting out the music.

“Yes, it hasn’t been too bad. Thank you for asking, JARVIS.”

JARVIS was the tower’s home computing system. A system Tony designed himself to do tasks such as light control, turning on and off the heat and A.C., and other tasks that he doesn’t want to do himself. But it did more that just house tasks, as you could ask or tell it to do something to that of what a computer could do, such as tracking, googling, and many, many other things. As a kid, I remember JARVIS being the first thing I warmed up to, as like any other seven year old would be, I was fascinated by it.

“That is very good to hear.” JARVIS responded. “Mr. Rogers is currently making lunch, and I have noted him of your arrival.”

“Thank you, JARVIS.” I spoke again; slightly annoyed by the continued presence, as I was looking forward to being left alone. JARVIS seemed to notice my tone, and spoke no further.

The elevator dinged all too soon, and the doors opened up. I stepped out into the large area which contained a living room, dining room, and kitchen all rolled into one. I looked to my left to see Steve exactly where JARVIS informed me. He was in the kitchen, flipping what appeared to be steaks in front of the stove. He must have heard my entrance, as his large figure swiftly turned around to look in my direction; a warm smile spreading across his face.

“Welcome home, Peter. How was you’re walk?” He was genuinely curious to know.

“It was fine.” I said, strolling up to a stool and taking a seat.

“I just heard on the radio that Spider-man stopped a robber dead in his tracks.” He paused. “I’m very proud of you.”

I couldn’t help the slight smile that crept up, all the while blood rushed to my face.

While Tony was the more ‘strict’ parent, Steve liked to be the more ‘fun’ and ‘happy’ parent. An equal balance that was needed. Tony has always been weary of my Spider-man duties, as he thinks that since I was just a kid, I shouldn’t be putting myself at risk and playing superhero. And while Steve worries about me too, he does understand it, and tries to support me to the best of his abilities, and for that I was grateful.

“Thanks. . .” I mumbled, clearly embarrassed.

“I’m making steak and potatoes for lunch, would you want any?” He asked me.

“Again? Didn’t we have this yesterday?”

“Hey, protein helps build muscle!”

“Yes, and we all know how much you’re lacking in that area. . .” I said sarcastically, which earned me a chuckle.

“So is that a yes?”

“Yeah, why not.” I said. The sandwich while good, wasn’t very fulfilling, and a proper meal would be nice.

“Good. It’ll soon be done so go get ready.” He turned his attention back to the stove.

I sauntered into the halls, turning each corner until I reached my bedroom. Closing the door behind me, I unwrapped the scarf around my neck and tossed it on my plaid  bed along with my coat. I slipped off my web shooters and placed them into my drawer before noticing the bottoms of my pants were still wet from the snow. Grabbing a pair of sweatpants, I headed into the bathroom to wash up.

As I made my way back into the main area, I noticed that Tony had arrived, and was now sitting down at the table, looking at his holographic tablet.

“Is Dr. Richards already gone?” I asked, feeling disappointment.

“Yes, he’s gone out to lunch. Yes, he will be coming back. And _no_ , you _still_ aren’t allowed near him.” Tony spoke, eyes not even glancing my way. I gave him a grumbled look as I sat down, but he didn’t acknowledge it.

“Why can’t Peter see Dr. Richards?” Steve asked while walking over to us, plates of food in hand.

“Because I don’t want another _incident_ to occur.” Tony responded simply.

“Oh come on, Tony, give me a break. Those were _all_ accidents. Like. . . obviously it’s not like I _wanted_ to set Natasha’s hair on fire. . .” The words came out of my mouth before I had the chance to think about what I was even saying, and I quickly slapped my hands over my face.

“You aren’t making yourself sound any better, kid.”

“Tony…” Steve warned. “Now you know as well as I do how much he loves Dr. Richards’ work, so I’m sure Pete would be on his best behavior, wouldn’t you?” He turned to me in question, to which I nodded eagerly.

Tony glanced between the two of us before letting out a big sigh. “Oh how I love to be double-teamed.” He said, taking off his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose. After putting them back on, he turned, raising a finger at me. “Here’s how this is gonna go. We walk in, I introduce you, you shake the man’s hand, you say whatever weird thing you’re planning to say, then you are free to sit in the corner and watch us work _quietly –_ nothing more. Do you understand?”

I again nodded eagerly.

“Good.” Tony spoke. “And Peter, I promise you that if you somehow manage to injure Dr. Richards in any way, not _only_ will you not be able to meet my guests anymore, you’re lab privileges will also be abolished.”

“Okay, good deal.” I sighed in defeat, knowing that if I somehow manage to mess _this_ up, I deserve whatever I get.

Steve placed plates in front of myself and Tony. “Okay, It’s time to eat!”

“Well this looks absolutely delicious. Thanks sweetheart.” Tony spoke in earnest.

When he wasn’t on the battlefield fighting whatever crazy thing that was happening, you could find Captain America in the kitchen, always creating different kinds of pastries and meals. Steve always raved about how he loved to cook. He says that it keeps his mind busy; unable to wander to unpleasant memories.

You see, Steve was born in 1918. Right around when the first world war was raging on – his father actually was a soldier in it. As the years passed on, Steve soon became noted to the public as Captain America after having a science experiment done on him, turning him into this ‘super soldier’ to help fight against the Nazi’s in the second world war. In the final days of the war, Steve had fallen from an experimental drone plane into the Atlantic ocean, and spent decades frozen in a block of ice.

It’s been a long time since Steve fought in the war, yet to him it only feels like yesterday. He suffers from post-traumatic stress every single day, and when I was a kid I remember even the littlest of things could set him off into a frantic state. Now it’s not nearly as bad, but if something does happen, it doesn’t help that he can bench-press over eight-hundred pounds, as the only person that can overpower him if things get a bit out of control is myself – one of the perks of spidey powers.

Dinner went by quicker than expected, and Tony got up from his seat to announce that he was returning to the lab, as Dr. Richards was probably already there waiting for his return.

“Mmmh, i’m commin’ wiffh!” I shouted with a mouth full of food, hopping up from the chair to chase after the figure already in the elevator.

I couldn’t help the complete grin plastered on my face as we ascended to the laboratories. Tony even beeped Darcy to confirm that Dr. Richards was in fact there waiting. As the elevator doors opened, I had to physically withhold myself from sprinting down the hallways to the lab. I tried to keep in pace with Tony to come off somewhat professional, and as we walked, I had to stop numerous times to wait for the man to catch up. It felt like it was taking forever to get there, and I had assumed it was because I was just in a rush, that is until I looked over to Tony to see the edges of his mouth curved up ever so slightly as he practically walked like a turtle.

“If you weren’t about to make one of my dreams come true, I would so dead-leg you right now. . .” I groaned out, making Tony laugh as he began to pick up the pace.

My breath hitched as we reached the door. Tony turned to me to give a final warning. “Remember the rules?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” The door opened and Tony stalked inside; I quickly following behind.

I caught sight of him pretty quickly, and my eyes widened. I quickly began doubting if this was real or not, as such a thing seemed far too amazing to happen in _my_ life.

He was wearing an ordinary lab coat, but somehow, he made it look a thousand times better than any other lab coat I’d ever seen. His face was handsomely structured, with hair lazily slicked back, exposing gray hairs that stood out from the chestnut brown that was much like my own. When he saw us, he greeted us with a smile so warm that I felt like I would faint like the overly excited fanboy I was.

“Reed,” Tony began. “I have someone I would like you to meet.” Tony then gestured to me. “This here is-”

“Peter Parker.” Dr. Richards spoke, his voice coming out ever so smoothly. “I was wondering when I would finally meet you.” His smile became even more warming as he turn his attention to me.

I began to question if this was real. Was it truly real? Dr. Reed Richards was wondering when he’d _finally_ meet with me. . . Dr Richards. . . He knows who I am for Christ’s sake!

“Reed d-doctor, you are. . . R-Richard Reeds. . . Mr. Doctor. . .” I stuttered out, not making any sense whatsoever. My brain had ceased to work, and I was now in total utter shock.

“Um, Peter has left the building. . . Would you mind calling back later?”

I don’t know how it happened, – my guess either Tony’s lame joke or the fact that I realised I was truly making a fool of myself – but my mind went from being off’d to maximum overdrive.

“I’m a huge fan of you’re work!” I shouted a bit too loud. “I’ve read every single paper you’ve p-published and I just want to say that I think you’re absolutely incredible. I think the work you do is amazing and I’m very excited to be meeting you so if I seem like a huge moron that babbles a lot, it’s because I just think you’re super great.” I breathed. “Okay that’s all.”

Dr. Richards’ eyebrow was raised, with his mouth formed up into a half smirk, as if he were amused yet slightly confused at the bizarre character in front of him.

“Well, that really caught me off guard.” Dr. Richards huffed. “I’m honestly surprised to hear that you’re just as big of a fan of me as I am of you.” He gave a grin.

He’s a fan of me. . . ?

“I have to say, I’ve read about some of the things you’ve done, and to accomplish it all at such a young age is truly inspiring.”

A giggle left my mouth, and my fanboy filter was now truly turned off.

“Reed Richards is a fan of me!” I said to myself, only to let out another heartful laugh.

Out of all the days I’ve lived, this had to be the best one yet. One my magnificent dreams had just come true.

“Okay, okay. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, we should get back to working on that _thing_ , yeah?” Tony asked, gesturing to a piece of fabric-like material on the table.

“Oh, of course, of course.” Dr. Richards responded. “Are you going to be staying with us, Peter?”

“Yes, he will be – _quietly._ ” Tony added, passing me a lab coat before sending me to sit down at an empty table.

For the next two hours I sat back and watched both men preform experiments on the piece of fabric, which mainly consisted with fire – at absurdly extreme heats might I add. The cloth was highly flammable, yet every time the fire was put out, it looked completely fine, as if it hadn’t even been doused in chemicals such as diethyl ether and set ablaze. I hadn’t seen anything like it before, and what was even more shocking was when they set it afire, only to dip it into a large container of water. To say it was simply incredible when the fire didn’t become smothered when fully submerged was an understatement, and I couldn’t help but let out a gasp when I saw it.

But I didn’t ask questions. I desperately wanted to, but I knew if I did, I would be kicked out in an instant.

“This seemed like a very successful day.” Tony spoke, extinguishing the flames one last time.

“Yes it has.” Dr. Richards spoke. “Thank you for all the help, Tony. I really appreciate it.” His words were sincere.

“Of course, I’m always happy to help-” Tony’s phone began to ring. “Oh, hold that thought. I’ll be right back. Hello?” He said, walking out of the room to answer the call.

“Now’s my chance.” I whispered.

I quickly trotted over next to where Dr. Richards was stood, as he packed up a few of his things.

“That was really incredible. . . what kind of material is that cloth?” I touched the fabric in my hand, feeling how silky smooth it was.

“A kind I created myself! It’s a mix of retardant material, with a special coating of flexible sintered bronze mixed with a secret ingredient, which allows the fire to breath easily underwater.”

“While also keeping out any possible liquid?” I asked.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Incredible. . .” I repeated. “But what would happen if it was submerged for a long time? Wouldn’t all the oxygen eventually dissipate. . .?”

“That,” He grabbed the cloth, “is where the very special secret ingredient comes in.”

“And I’m guessing that it’s something I will never know of?” I questioned, knowing the answer before hand.

“Exactly. As a magician would say. . .” He turned, winking at me. “Magician’s secret.” He put on a grin, placing the final things into his briefcase before clicking it shut. “Well Peter, it was very nice to meet you. I hope to see you tomorrow, yes?” He raised his brows at me.

“Yeah, definitally.” I smiled back.

In the next few seconds, things seemed to go by all too fast. As I went to turn around, a loose end in my coat seemed to get caught on the rim of a flask full of chemicals without my realising, and my spidey senses quickly alerted me to my mistake as they began to painfully flare almost immediately. I immediately whipped around, only to be caught off guard by something coming in my direction. I wanted to dodge out of the way, but I knew I wouldn’t be quick enough. _It_ grabbed the flask before any of the harmful liquids could spill out, and it retracted back – back to it’s owner.

Dr. Richards stood at the far end of the room – by the door, his eyes wide with surprise as he took an almost defensive stance. I stared, looking at the flask that was just moments ago caught in my coat now in his hand. My eyes slowly scaled upwards to his arm, and then to his face. Whatever expression I had on right then, I could tell that he didn’t like it.

The door opened, and Tony stepped in. “Sorry about that. Now where were w- you have a strange look on you’re face.” He cut himself off, pointing a finger in my direction. “Peter, what’s wrong?” His face turned worrisome.

By Tony’s reaction, I could narrow down how my face looked right about then.

“N-nothing.” I stuttered out.

“. . . Okay.” He then cleared his throat. “Um, I’ll see you tomorrow, yes Reed?”

“Um, yes yes, of course.” He mumbled, not making eye contact with me. Tony escorted him out, and I was left standing there, wide-eyed, wondering what the hell just happened.

“Is. . . is Dr. Richards a mutant?” My voice was breathless, and the question seemed to linger in the unsettling atmosphere around me. My thoughts were cut short by a sudden vibration in my pocket, and jumped in surprise. I pulled out the old flip phone that I owned, seeing a text message from an unknown number.

**_Hello! This is Mary Jane! I was making plans for tomorrow and I wanted to know if you would like to see a movie. If You are busy, I completely understand! :)_ **

I mindlessly stared at the words on the screen; my mind only thinking of what had just happened minutes ago. My shaky fingers began pressing buttons, slowly imputing a reply.

**_Hi! A movie sounds like a fun idea. Let me know when it’s happening. – Peter Parker_ **

I slipped the phone back into my pocket, and quickly sat down in the chair closest to me.

“What the hell. . .” I groaned out, putting my face into my hands. “Okay Peter just calm down. Let’s just think about this slowly. . .” I spoke.

There were three things I knew for certain.

First off, tomorrow I would be seeing Mary Jane.

The second; Dr. Reed Richards had some sort of power. What it did I was still unsure, but from what I’ve seen, he can stretch his arm past human capabilities.

The last?

I would definitely not be seeing _him_ tomorrow.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY So i hope that wasn't complete ass,,, I'm still VERY new to AO3 so i apologize if ANY of the tags are messed up or ANYTHING.
> 
> Feel free to let me know if you liked the chapter or hated it with a passion, ONLY if you want to of course!!! Thank you for reading!


	2. Banquet

Earlier that day

* * *

 

Some say the world will end in fire. Some say in ice. From what I've tasted of desire, I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate to say that, for destruction, fire would still suffice.

And as I sat behind that table, I felt that _I_ would be the one to set the world ablaze; ending it all. Questioning how I ended up here would be meaningless, but maybe I did something in a past life which warranted me to be in this situation.

If I believed in _hell_ , I would contemplate how it compared to a public forum. Ironically enough, such beliefs would categorize me with the Neanderthals I currently shared a room with. Usually they’re not _this_ horrible, but from whatever mood I was in, I felt pure agony as we listened to yet another citizen complain about some mindless thing I hadn’t the care for.

“- _and_ then a dog came up and started licking me! I’m allergic to dogs!” An old lady spoke, standing behind the mic that was in the middle of the room.

I looked to my right, seeing my sister next to me, her face full of all kinds of emotions.

“Mrs. Varner, if you’re allergic to dogs, t-then why did you go to a dog park?” She questioned the woman.

“This is America, I don’t have to tell you anything!” The woman’s grating voice huffed, stepping down and shuffling back to her seat.

My sister, Sue, works in Parks and Recreation, and she’s very passionate about her job – unlike her coworkers. So, on the occasion when she needed my help, she would ask me to tag along in events like this for emotional support, which I would ask the same of my red-haired friend, as I knew that If I were to act as emotional support, I would need some of my own.

“Every time I come to one of these, I start to feel myself dislike the citizens of this city more and more.” I heard MJ sigh.

“Just one more hour until the banquet. We’ll survive.” I whispered back.

It was going to be a busy morning. My brother had to attend some banquet at nine, which was bizarre, as I’ve never heard of any banquet that started so early in the day – leave it to science nerds to be the first. He wanted our family to be there, and gave permission to invite my friends, so I wouldn’t be the only high schooler there, which was relieving.

“Hnn, if I had my time back, I would have so chose sitting in a boring lab watching Harry and Gwen do their science project over this.” She groaned, only to let out a slight shiver. “God it’s freezing in here.”

That didn’t surprise me, as since we would be going straight to the banquet after this, the three of us decided to dress up before hand, and MJ’s olive-colored dress – despite the frills – seemed thin. I let my hand slide under the table. As I snapped my two fingers, a stream of fire emerged from the tips, and I watched as MJ’s face went from stiff to relaxed.

She looked over at me knowingly. “Thanks.” Her smile was as sincere as ever, and I returned the gesture.

The next hour was just as intolerable as the last, but I could tell the three of us felt relief when the last person came up.

“Why the hell are there so many birds in central park!” A man’s voice blared through the speakers, catching us off guard – MJ specifically jumping up from her chair in surprise. “It’s December, they’re suppose to go extinct this time of year!”

“Extinct?” MJ whispered with amusement.

“Sir, they’re migrating down from the north for the winter, so I’m sure the birds will go... _extinct_ soon enough.” Sue gritted through her teeth with a forced smile.

“Well that’s not good enough! I want you to get rid of them.” The man complained.

‘Well, you see that’s just not possible-”

“And why not? You call yourself the parks department, you should be able to do things like this! Damn government is useless to me again! This is why I refuse to pay you’re damn income tax.”

“Sir, you don’t pay your income tax?” Sue questioned.

“Whether I do or don’t pay my income tax is none of the government’s concern.”

“Well, actually yes, it is...”

“Well too bad, because you wont ever see me again.” The man spoke, before turning swiftly on his heels and running out one of the side doors.

“Oh, oh I feel a migraine coming on.” MJ whispered, which made me silently chuckle.

“Well, thank you so much everyone for coming to this month’s Parks and Recreation forum. We’ve achieved... absolutely nothing today _which_ is somehow higher than last months, So um... yay for that!” She spoke, standing up from her chair and switching off her microphone; me and MJ following her lead.

“Sue, I don’t know how you do this every month.” MJ sounded exasperated.

“Oh, it’s not _that_ bad.”

“Did you not _hear_ the bird complaint!”

“Yes, I did. But still, I admire the passion they all have, and I hope that somehow we can make the city an even better place for them.”

I could tell that was her truth.

“You’re too nice for your own good, sis.” I patted her on the shoulder, which she gave me a gentle smile. “Now come on, we should start heading out.”

The drive to the banquet was tedious to say the least. It took all my strength to not let road rage overcome me as people went about their day, jaywalking like it was no one’s business. Manhattan’s streets have always been horrible, but now that Christmas was right around the corner, the amount of people wanting death wishes has increased tenfold. As I slammed onto my break for the fifteenth time, I wondered how much it would cost in legal fines to run over the next person who jumped out in front of the car. Of course, that would be nothing compared to what Sue would do if I ever did such a thing – especially when she was in the car with me.

“Okay, at this point, I’m starting to wonder if you’re trying to intentionally _almost_ run people over.” MJ said from the passenger side.

“Pfft, no, not at all. I’m just making sure my breaks are working fine.” And with that, I slammed on them once again, inches away from almost hitting a pedestrian. “Oh, how disappointing.” I sighed before glancing over to her. “They still work.”

“Hmm, yeah um, remind me again how you’re a superhero?”

“Okay, space flight gone wrong, lots of radiation, me turning into a match stick.”

“Match stick...” MJ hummed. “Definitely explains your hot-headedness.”

“Plus, I think all that fire is starting to burn up a few of your braincells, so it can also explain your dumbness.” Sue spoke up from the back seat, which immediately had me taking one hand off the steering and flicking it backwards in hopes of hitting her, all the while MJ laughed from the passenger side.

The banquet hall parking lot looked to be littered with fancy cars, which only upped my irritation further. I’d already dealt with obnoxious people today, so dealing with rich snobs for the next two hours was going to be a pain in the ass – especially when you’re the brother of the person being honored today. The last time I went to a _thing_ like this, I was bombarded with rows and rows of individuals asking me inconsequential questions like _what it was like to be the brother of someone so important to the science world_. I hadn’t the idea on what to say, so I rattled on with bullshit while they hung onto my every word with admiring eyes.

Another thing that bothered me at these things? The attention I seemed to get. Sure, I was good looking – that was a no brainer – but I wouldn’t be caught dead _with_ someone from such a… _distasteful_ higher-up class. The type of people who only cared for looks and money. The people who inhabit _that world_ are as ignorant as I’ve ever seen, and the though of being intimate with such a person had me wanting to reach for a bucket to gag in.

It’s true they didn’t _all_ act like this, but that’s all it was. An act. A mind game used to fool ones they consider the lesser and use such to take control and manipulate others to do their bidding. Rich people were all the same – no doubt in my mind about that.

I held the door open for both Sue and MJ, but my atrocious luck of course had me further holding it for two others – a man and woman – who both seemed to be eyeing me in a way that made me want to peel the skin off my face as they passed on by. I quickly jogged to catch up with the two I had come with, and as I got to MJ’s side, she whispered to me.

“Y’know, if you really hate people staring at you so much, maybe you ought to try not making yourself look so…” She eyed me up and down. “devilishly handsome?” Her brow raised, which made me let out a chuckle.

“Devilishly, eh?” I gave a grin. “Can’t help that. It’s all in the genes.”

“Oh yeah, I’m sure locking yourself in the bathroom for three hours to _style_ yourself is definitely genetic.” My sister said on the other side of MJ. MJ tried to hide her laugh by turning it into a cough, but when she turned to look at the expression on my face, she let out a light laugh along with Sue.

When we were now in the hall, Sue directed us towards the tables where we were going to be seated before walking off to socialize with some guests, which myself and MJ then immediately spotted our two other friends.

Harry was wearing a gray suit, which I might add looked more expensive than anything else I’ve ever owned, but that wasn’t surprising. Harry was the son of Norman Osborn, the CEO of Oscorp, a multi-million dollar organization. Norman Osborn was… unkind to say the least, though thanks to that, his son was a lot more caring, and not nearly as stuck-up. I guess Harry was the only exception to my rich people theory. He’s been one of my best friends since middle school, and doesn’t let all that money go to his head.

Gwen wore what looked to be a collared shirt which she had rolled up, along with dress pants. It suited her. I had met Gwen in middle school as well – MJ and harry being the one’s who introduced us to each other. She was kind of the nerd of the group but didn’t act like the stereotypical type. Behind that silent and smart looking exterior, there was abundances of sarcasm, along with a hefty knack for humor, and a _lot_ of confidence – though, not overly so.

When MJ noticed them, she began waving like a child, and I could only roll my eyes.

“Oh, I’ve missed you guys _sooooo_ much.” said MJ.

“Babe, it was only two hours.” Harry laughed as we sat down before kissing her.

“Really? Because it felt like we were there for fifty.”

“That bad?” Gwen asked.

“Yup.” I replied. “You guys finish your project?”

“Close. We just have to make sure the thermoreactor will turn on when the heat signal bypasses the cog-”

“Okay wow.” I put my hands up in defense. “You just said like three words I hadn’t the clue of, so…”

Gwen rolled her eyes. “Okay, let me put it into… _simpler_ words. When heat reader picks up big fire, gear move to make spark.” She explained in a mockful voice as if I were a baby, which caused the table to giggle under their breath.

I only pouted. “You’re all bullies.” I mumbled, slouching back into my chair.

The usual banter happened as the four of us sat together. One thing I love about our little group was how casual we could be around each other. We’ve known each other for years now, so there was no awkwardness during random silences, and there was no need to try and keep an awkward conversation going. The three people I was sitting with were my best friends, and I didn’t want anything to change.

My sister soon came back around with Reed, which he then greeted myself and MJ (As he was the one who drove Harry and Gwen here), before taking off again to go talk to some people in which I assumed had been important. One of those people was Tony Stark, and I felt an immediate flare of irritation crash over me.

Tony Stark, the playboy. The rich, arrogant, fuck-wad whose face was plastered all over _everywhere_ in the science world. I didn’t care much for science, but the lone fact of that man’s success made me want to casually stroll behind him just to light the tail-end of his coat on fire.

Success that my brother deserved _way_ more than him. For whatever ungodly reason though, he and my brother were good friends.

 _Why is my opinion of him of so harsh_? Easy. I don’t care for his kind – or for any of his… confidants.

The Avengers, in my honest opinion, was the opposite of a rag-tag team. A group of people capable of doing so much, _and yet they just don’t_. They think that their precious time isn’t worth helping with a _measly_ bank robbery, or stopping a mugger dead in their tracks, or trying to help _any_ of the common folk in the city. _No_ ooo, because if there isn’t an alien invasion, or something threatening the world, they don’t care. They _only_ help with things that are a detriment to themselves, and of course, when they do succeed, they get showered in publicity from media outlets all over the world.

It was disgusting, and left vigilantes like Daredevil and Spiderman – who both _actively_ do good for the city – in the dust. Hell, as of late, the only time I saw a vigilante in the paper was when the Daily Bugle did another hate column on Spiderman himself. I didn’t know much about the guy, but I know he doesn’t deserve all the hate he seems to get from the Bugle. Luckily enough, the citizens of this city think for themselves. For as far as I could tell, everyone loved him. I still hadn’t the clue on how MJ works for such an appalling tabloid.

“You’re awfully quiet, what’s up your bum?” MJ asked, noticing the sour expression on my face.

“Tony Stark.” I muttered.

“Ah…” Harry said as he turned to see where my gaze went. “I take it you don’t like him?”

“It’s just… he thinks he’s _so clever._ The first time I spoke with him, it took everything in me not to burn that snarl of a mouth closed.” I gritted through my teeth.

“Hmm… does he like… know?” MJ asked, trying to be as subtle as she could.

“Yeah. For some reason, Reed trusts him enough to keep it a secret. I told him it was _crazy_ , but whatever mutual trust they have is apparently enough for Reed to tell him about us.”

“Ooo, family fun day with the Avengers, kicking some alien butt. Sounds like a good time.” Gwen mused.

I huffed. “Take a lot more than an alien invasion for me to fight with the _Avengers_.”

“So, your prejudice isn’t just with Ironman?”

“God no. The Avengers could be fighting crime everyday if they wanted to. They’re just too selfish to and are only in it for themselves.”

“Well, Johnny, you do realise that the Avengers are restricted to being under SHIELD’s orders, right?” Harry asked. My brows only furrowed.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. Apparently, they can’t even fight crime unless they have SHIELD’s authorization to act or whatever – at least that’s what my dad tells me.”

“Hmm, interesting…” I trailed off. “Still though, they could just stop taking orders from SHIELD.”

“I don’t think it’s that easy.” Harry leaned in closer to the table. “I think that since all of the Avenger’s identities are revealed, things become a lot more complicated. That’s why you don’t see any vigilantes running around without a mask.”

“Well, what about Spiderman?” Gwen asked. “He has his identity revealed. Peter… Peter something…”

“Peter Parker.” MJ’s quiet voice spoke up.

“Yeah, that guy.”

“Mm, I think that situation is a tad complicated too though. Doesn’t the guy live with the Avengers?” Harry questioned.

“Yes.” MJ confirmed.

“Well, look at you, Miss Spiderman fan.” I teased, which made her chuckle.

“So wait,” I spoke up again. “Spiderman lives with the Avengers? Last time I checked he wasn’t one though.”

“Yeah, I don’t really know much about that situation, but I think I heard somewhere that he choses not to be.”

“Strange… But if he isn’t one, then why do they allow him to live there?”

“Well Mr. Stark has custody over Peter.” MJ spoke.

Harry turned to her, looking surprised.

“You know an awful lot about Spiderman…” He stated, giving her a questioning stare.

“Well, I _did_ use to be neighbors with him after all.” She stated as if it were obvious.

The table went silent, until I was the one to speak up first..

“What?”

“Yeah. He used to live with Mrs. Parker and her husband – rest his soul.” She added. “You know, my _neighbor_?” She questioned, looking around at all our mixed expressions. “Did I seriously not tell you guys about that?”

“You’re yanking us.” Harry said, thinking this was some joke she was pulling.

“I’m not _yanking_ you.” She shook her head with a confused expression.

“Oh, come on, if you were neighbors, how come you hadn’t brought this up before?” Gwen asked.

“Well I didn’t think it was that big of a deal.” She replied simply.

“Big deal? He’s a superhero, how could that not be a big deal?”

MJ’s voice lowered. “Well _he’s_ a superhero.” She gestured to myself.

“But that’s different! Johnny is… Johnny.” Gwen casually hit my arm.

“Hmm, so we established my name _and_ hit me.” I glowered. “But back on topic. If he already had a mother and a father, how come _Tony Stark_ -” I practically spit the words. “has custody over him?”

“Well May and Ben Parker were his aunt and uncle. His parents died when he was four and was left in their custody. From what I heard from Mrs. Parker, Peter got his powers when he was seven, and since they hadn’t the idea of how to raise a supernatural kid, they thought it would be safer if he grew up with people who knew how to take care of and protect him. They asked Tony Stark, and he agreed. So, they packed his things and sent him off to go live with Tony, and that was the last time I saw him.”

The table was silent again.

“Jesus.” Was all I could say.

I couldn’t help but feel bad for the guy – to be raised by Tony Stark that is. But I guess _most_ guys would enjoy growing up in a playboy lifestyle, so I didn’t feel too bad.

“That seems pretty messed up.” Harry let out. “Well, there was no way you made all that up on the spot, so I definitely believe you, babe.”

“Mmm, I still don’t buy it.” Gwen said, which made MJ poked her tongue out at her.

All our attention turned to the stage as the repeated taps of a microphone sounded. “Now ladies and gentlemen, I would now like to call to the stage the man of the hour.” A woman in a velvet red dress spoke. “Dr. Reed Richards!” The applause came soon after.

An hour had passed since we arrived. Reed graciously accepted the award given – what it was for I hadn’t the clue. I felt myself blank out as the voices around me began talking about it. Afterwards, Reed had of course ventured around the hall, talking to various people, but not before yanking me up from my seat to take me along. I tried protesting, but he gave me a slight pleaded look before saying that he couldn’t bring Sue, as she was off somewhere doing something, and he didn’t want to have to do it alone.

We were now standing in front of a tiny group of four people – each one speaking to Reed, asking him questions about his work. I didn’t mind it too much until the questions soon turned onto myself, which had irked me, as this day was supposed to be about Reed, _not myself_.

“So, are you one of Dr. Richards’ assistants?” A woman asked, who looked to be in her mid twenties, with golden hair that flowed down her back. I didn’t miss when her tanned hand began sliding up and down my arm in an almost seductive way, so I tried holding back a smirk when I told her what I really did.

“No, no.” I said with a light chuckle. “I’m actually studying history along with a few other courses at the moment…” I wanted to finish what I was going to say, but I knew that the added suspense would be too good to miss.

“Oh, in college?” Her body was a lot closer now, as her dark gray eyes stared up into mine, which only made me say it all too quickly.

“No, high school.”

Her hand dropped, and I watched as she went wide-eyed for a moment. She looked utterly shocked.

“O-oh! Um okay, well it was a pleasure getting to know you, Johnny.” Her face was tomato red by the point she scurried herself along, and I could help but let out a choked laugh.

I often got mistaken for being a few years older than I really was. I didn’t care of course, but having the occasional woman (and man) try to come onto me got annoying at times, though it did give me a gigantic boost to my already humungous ego – something MJ liked to constantly remind me of. If I was any other seventeen-year-old, I guess I could use _looking older_ to my advantage, but I wasn’t anyone else. I was me, and there was no point in trying to get into bars to drink beer because my body temperature is over one-hundred and five degrees on _average_ , so the alcohol doesn’t even have time to take effect before my body naturally burns it all up. Annoying sure, but I bet I could make a hell of a lot of money in drinking games.

“And I have returned.” I spoke, sitting back down at the table where my friends had remained.

“Oh, good. You arrived just in time to hear Gwen talk more about her and Harry’s science project.” MJ said.

“And I’m leaving once again.” I stood back up, only to have MJ grab my arm to pull me back down.

“I kid, I kid.” She laughed. “We were just talking about where we we’re going to go hang out once this is over.”

“Ooh, what ideas we got so far?”

“Well we were thinking about maybe getting something to eat. You want to go anywhere specific?”

I shrugged.

“Oh hey, I know this little coffee place not far from here. Really quiet. Its where I usually go to study after school.” Gwen said.

“You have my attention.” MJ perked up.

“It has a really good lunch menu too. Donuts, bagels, sandwiches-”

“Sandwiches?” I asked intently, leaning in. “I like sandwiches.”

“Oh, we know.” MJ grinned.

The next hour wasn’t too eventful. At one point, Reed gathered me up for a photo op, which included both my sister and Benjamin Grimm. The four of us smiled while MJ took a few photos with her camera along with some other people who worked for the media.

I found humor in it, as no one knew it, but they we’re taking pictures of four people with super powers.

I wasn’t the only one in my family who had powers. My sister, Reed, and Ben had all been on the same spacecraft that got infected with the radiation that gave us these powers. Sue got the power to turn herself and others invisible along with being able to project forcefields.

Reed got the power to stretch every single part of his body past ordinary capabilities, kind of like Elastigirl – the woman from The Incredibles movie.

Ben… well Ben got the utterly conspicuous power. His whole body had transformed, orange rock-like hide covering it all, while also gaining super strength and a huge body mass. Out of the three of us, he took it the worst. Though of course, Reed felt guilty, as Ben (who was his assistant at the time) was the one that told him that the flight would be very dangerous, and he wasn’t sure the ship was protected enough from the radiation, though Reed brushed him off.

After the accident though, Reed spend day and night researching for an antidote. It took months, and Ben was confined to seclusion the entire time, until finally, Reed did it. He made an antidote, and though it didn’t completely erase ben’s powers, Ben returned to looking human, and was now able to turn into the rocky form at will.

Reed then asked us if we wanted to, we could use our powers to fight crime for the better good. ‘ _The Fantastic Four’_ he said. Myself and Ben were on board, but Sue rejected it without hesitation, but not because of herself. She said that I was _too young_ , and that I didn’t know how to properly make life changing decisions at the time. She didn’t want me to grow up and regret the choice I made.

The Fantastic Four idea was turned down, and we then settled for a normal life.

That didn’t stop me though. I had heard about the vigilantes that roamed the streets of New York, fighting crime all the while not revealing their identity. It was only last year that I decided to act on it, and from then on, I became the Human Torch. I chose the name in honor of the World War II hero – I’ve always been a big fan of history. I wasn’t too well known yet, not as much as the others that is, but I was getting there.

My sister was completely against it, but I did remind her that I was now old enough to think for myself, and despite what she might not like, I was going to do it anyways. Stubborn sure, but I like to think that it was because of my passion for it.

After the photo op, I let Sue know that myself and the others were going to be leaving to head to lunch.

“So, where exactly is this coffee place?” I asked, opening the driver’s side door.

“Not far. I’ll guide you.” Gwen said.

It only took about five minutes to get there, which was pretty fast considering all the people out roaming about. I parallel parked into one of the spots in front of the shop.

The place was packed.

“I thought you said there’s usually no one here.” Harry stated as he turned to Gwen.

“There usually isn’t… I guess it was always less crowded because I always came after school.”

Harry sighed at this. “Well let’s go see if we can find ourselves a table.”

We did find one. It was a small but cozy booth in front of one of the windows. Deciding that it would be smarter if one of us stayed, the three of my friends went into the line while I remained seated, but not before passing MJ money and telling her I wanted the best and meatiest sandwich they had.

I felt my thoughts wander as I sat alone. Now that I had thought about it, when I was talking to that older blond woman today, I did feel slight excitement from the whole encounter. It was illegal of course, but if she had been younger – around my age maybe – I might have gone for it. She was quite attractive after all. The more and more I thought, the more I realised that it had been quite some time since I had dated – the last being a classmate from two years ago. Her name was Kate. Only a fling really, as nothing too serious became of it. I did have people asking me out weekly at school, but things seemed to have died down now – probably because I rejected the lot of them, so no one else even bothered.

Soon the three returned to the table. I scooted in as Gwen sat with me, while Harry and MJ sat across from us.

“Here you are, good sir.” MJ passed over my gigantic sandwich. My eyes lit up, and I could help the quiet smile on my face as I grabbed it.

“Come to daddy.” I said, unwrapping the tinfoil to expose the wonderous monstrosity that was my sandwich.

“They call it the _meat heart-attack_.” Harry said, looking at myself with an amused expression.

“Well if I have a heart-attack after this, at least I’ll die happy.” I hummed, taking a huge bite out of the side.

Soon Harry and Gwen began chitchatting about their project, so I felt myself tune out almost immediately, and soon enough I was in my own world, eating the sandwich of my dreams and staring out the window at passerby’s.

“Hey,” Gwen’s tone suddenly sounded strange. “Isn’t that Spiderman?”

I glanced at her before my gaze followed her discrete pointing finger, where my eyes landed on a boy.

He was pale – almost unhealthily so, and I wondered if he had spent most of his life indoors. His hair was a rich brown color which was short and ever so slightly curly. Wide, hazel eyes scanned the room before he scuffled his way into the lineup. I couldn’t take my eyes from him as I scanned every detail of his face with scrutiny, looking for any sort of flaw, but there was none. His body was slim, and he wasn’t that tall either, which only further made me question his health.

 _Was this really Spiderman? Was this boy really the person under the suit?_ I began to question. It was when he got to the front of the line that I tore my gaze away, almost angerly so.

It was strange. I knew that I was attractive, and I was proud of that, but the more and more I began staring at that boy, the more the jealousy started to rise. He was _unbelievably_ more attractive than I was, and I felt my ego take a huge blow.

My attention turned back to the people who were whispering in front of me.

“Oh, come on MJ, go talk to him! Prove that you guys use to know each other!” Gwen urged.

“Oh Gwen… We don’t even know if that’s really him. That could be a total stranger.”

“It’s definitely him.” Gwen sounded sure.

“Hnn…” MJ looked uncomfortable. “What if he doesn’t remember me, and I look like some utter foolish fangirl.”

“Babe, that’s a risk you gotta take.” Harry said. “Though, he isn’t like a… childhood crush you had or anything… right?” He looked nervous, which made MJ laugh wholeheartedly.

“Don’t you worry.” She said to him, pinching his cheeks with one hand.

When the boy left the counter, I didn’t have to look to tell that all our gazes were on him – but not _just_ us either, as the whole coffee shop seemed to realise just who was there, but the boy seemed completely oblivious as he went to take a seat at a small table next to our booth.

“Go!” Gwen whispered excitedly, which MJ just rolled her eyes before standing up and turning around, moving to sit in the chair across from the boy.

“Hello.” I heard MJ say, and the boy looked up, frightened like a deer in headlights.

“Um, hi…” His voice sounded sweeter than anything I had ever heard, and it made me feel anxious.

“So far, so good.” Gwen whispered to me with sarcasm, but I barely paid attention as I couldn’t help but stare at the boy once again.

“I’m Mary Jane. You probably don’t remember me, but we were once neighbours.”

This seemed to make his stiffness ease a little. “Oh?” He asked, still looking cautious.

“We used to make mud-pies when we were little.” MJ laughed nervously.

The boy paused for a moment before his eyes lit up. “Oh yeah, yeah, I remember.” It was like his whole demeanor changed, as he was now brightly smiling, and I couldn’t help but recognize the slight flutter my heart did upon seeing this.

“I used to call you MJ, right?” He asked.

“Yes!” MJ said a bit too eagerly, which she then laughed; the boy quickly joining in.

And that’s when it happened, for a brief second, his eyes left her, and they flicked over to the person on my right, and then to me. I couldn’t tell what expression I was wearing, but I felt my cheeks warm up slightly. I kept staring even when he glanced away.

“I was going to say I’m Peter, but I’m guessing you already knew that.” He said to her – _Peter…_ I corrected myself. _Peter said to her_.

“I’m pretty sure most people in this coffee house knows your name.” MJ paused. “ _Where everybody knows your name…_ ” She sang.

I questioned why she had randomly began to break out into song, until I heard what came next.

“ _And they’re always glad you came…”_ Peter sang back, and I couldn’t help but feel my mouth part slightly. His voice sounded… _angelic_? Or was I just overexaggerating? Moments passed before the two burst into laughter, and I couldn’t tell if I was stunned by the fact that I didn’t know what they were laughing at, or from the fact of how wonderful his laugh was.

“Oh man,” MJ said between laughs. “It’s been forever since I seen that show. Your aunt practically watched that religiously.”

Peter went quiet, as if he almost blanked out to go into deep thought.

“Well listen.” MJ spoke, realising how silent the boy had gone. “I should get back to my friends, but would I be able to get your number, so maybe we could hang out some time, maybe catch up? Only if you would like too, of course!”

Peter seemed shocked by this, and for a moment, he only stared at her. That is until the edges of his mouth turned up into a smile. “Y-yeah... Yeah, I would really like that.” He said.

“Okay great!” MJ sounded excited. She passed over her phone to him, which he then inputted his number – which took quite a while might I add.

“Okay, I’ll be seeing you.” MJ waved as he passed back her phone.

“Yeah, s-see you.” He returned the gesture, before turning his gaze back down onto his food, and I hung on to those last words, hearing them repeat in my mind.

MJ was now sat back down in her spot, and the three of them began chatting about what happened, but I hadn’t the care to pay attention as my gaze simply remained on the boy. He seemed… so humble. It was surprising, as I thought being raised by _Tony Stark_ would have the complete opposite effect.

I felt myself become shocked as the last few minutes began to wash over me. I… was anxious, and my heart was beating faster than I had ever felt… and I blushed like some fucking school girl.

Was I attracted to him? I mean, I never had been attracted to a boy before, so it wasn’t like I had experience of knowing such a thing, but I knew that this was how I felt when I was in the same situation with a girl.

 _No… that’s not possible,_ I thought.

I wasn’t attracted to him. I was only attracted by the idea of him. Whatever that means.

Peter had disappeared, and I felt a flood of disappointment wash over me. I ignored it though and tried to concentrate on the continued discussion MJ, Harry, and Gwen were having.

And that’s when I heard shouting.

I looked up, my eyes immediately darting towards the front counter. A man was there, and he had a gun as he aimed it at the cashier.

“ALL THE MONEY IN THE BAG, NOW!” He roared. The cashier quickly complied.

I had to do something. I _had_ to. I rapidly stood up and was about to jump out of the booth to make my move before a hand shot across the table to stop me. I glanced over, seeing MJ with a face of warning.

“You don’t have your suit with you.” She whispered the reminder, but I only tried to brush her off. Her grip remained. “Johnny just… think about this.”

I didn’t have the chance to think though, as the robber quickly ran out of the store with a bag full of money, and as a person zoomed by the booth, I watched as they shot what looked to be web out towards the half-eaten sandwich on the table and yanked it towards them, only to chase out after the burglar.

I felt my tense self go slack, and MJ’s grip released.

“Do you know how idiotic you were just now?” She asked me, her tone unusually serious.

I only scoffed at this, sitting back down. She didn’t speak further, and silently sat down as well.

We remained there until the police had arrived, with all the money that had been stolen. I heard Gwen say a ‘Nice job, Spiderman’ when she saw it.

We then left the Coffee shop and got back into the car.

“Where to?” I asked, eyes staring straight ahead.

“Well,” Harry said in the seat next to me. “Me and Gwen still need to finish our project for Monday, so can we head back to your place?”

“Of course.” I responded.

The drive down to Queens wasn’t too bad, as no pedestrians jumped out in the middle of the road desiring death. When we reached the tall building that I called home, I drove into the garage and parked the car.

Though my brother wasn’t _super_ rich, he did make quite a bit – enough to have a large home with a laboratory anyways.

We hopped into the elevator, and Gwen pressed the button for the laboratory. We rode up in silence – which for me was awkward, as I still felt quite pissed about what had happened back at the coffee shop. When the doors opened, they all stepped out, but MJ noticed my stillness and turned around.

“You coming?” She asked.

“Na, I think I’m gonna head up to the living room, maybe watch a movie.”

“Okay…” She said hesitantly, turning around and quickly catching up with the other two.

I hit the button for the top floor.

When I strolled into the living room, I plopped down onto the couch with what I could tell was a grumpy expression. I knew it shouldn’t have bothered me this much, but I couldn’t help but be angry. I wasn’t mad at MJ. She had done the right thing in stopping me, and I knew if I had done something drastic, I would have regretted it, but I couldn’t help the feeling of disappointment that hit me knowing that there really was nothing I could have done in that situation.

It was a good thing Spiderman was there to stop the robber, because at that moment, I was more useless than the Avengers.

I put in a random disk in the CD player and found the menu screen for Austin Powers come up. I pressed play on the remote and leaned back into the couch before letting myself become caught up in the movie.

When I heard the elevator ding, I looked up to see MJ strolling in. She walked over, before jumping on the couch much like the way I did.

“I’m sorry.” She said, and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes and put on a smile.

“You literally have nothing to be sorry about. I should be thanking you for helping me not expose myself like the idiot I really was.”

She laughed. “I still want to apologize though.”

“It’s okay.” I turned, smiling at her.

We remained silent for a moment, and as a question popped up in my mind, I couldn’t help but ask it before I even knew what I was saying.

“What would you say if I told you I had a crush on a guy.”

She looked at me, slightly shocked by the serious question, before sitting back on the couch to think.

“Depends, is he cute?” She nudged into me with a wicked smile.

“Yeah, yeah he’s pretty cute.” I mentally slapped myself, wondering where my filter had gone.

“Do I know him?”

“You really don’t care if it was a guy?” I asked, surprised by how casual she was about this.

“Not at all! Now, do I _know_ him?”

“I-I’m unsure if I even like him. I just… got a weird feeling when I saw him is all.” I mumbled, clearly embarrassed.

“A weird _loooove_ feeling?” The grin never left her face.

“Ugh, I knew I shouldn’t have said anything.” I leaned my head back onto the couch, covering my face with my hands.

“Okay, okay, fine I’ll be serious.” She laughed. “So, are you sure you like… _like_ him?”

I peaked one eye under the bottom of my hand to look at her; letting myself tell the truth. “I haven’t even spoken to him before.”

“W-…. Then how do you know you even like him?”

“I like the idea of him.” I stated.

“And what does that even mean?”

“I don’t know!” I groaned into my hands.

“Okay, just… who is it, just so I can make even the slightest sense of this.”

I went silent, questioning if it was too embarrassingly stupid to say it. It didn’t take long for me to give in.

“Spiderman.” I mumbled.

“PETER?” She screamed. “You like Peter?”

“SHH, I don’t know if I like him!” I hushed her. “I just… thought he was _really_ attractive.”

There was silence again, and when I peaked my eye back out to look at the girl, she was on her phone.

“What are you doing?” I asked her.

“Texting Peter to see if he wants to hang out with us tomorrow.”

“W-What! You’re not actually-”

“Yup.” She cut me off, putting her phone in my face. “See, already sent it.”

“MJ, did you seriously just-”

“Ooo, he texted back!” She cleared her throat before reciting the message “‘Hi! A movie sounds like a fun idea. Let me know when it’s happening. – Peter Parker’. Pfft, Peter Parker. He even signed the text with his name like a dork.”

I stared in shock, before once again falling back onto the couch, accepting my fate quicker than I had liked. “You are too much, you know that?” I asked her.

“Oh, I know.”

Me and MJ watched the remainder of the movie, and as it finished, I got up to put the second movie in the series on. When I was about to hit play, I spotted Gwen and Harry walking out from the elevator.

“Watching a movie, wanna join?” I asked. It wasn’t surprising when they both graciously accepted.

The four of us huddled onto the couch, the three of them wrapped in a blanket, and me wearing less clothes than I had before. They weren’t even phased when I began taking off my suit and pants, as they were completely use to my erratic behavior by now. They knew that I tended to become overheated when I wore heavy clothes for a long time.

About half way into the second movie is when I noticed that Reed was in the room, and he was pacing around the kitchen looking a bit worried. My hand reached out for the remote to pause it, causing the others to groan, but I ignored them.

“Reed, what’s wrong?” I hopped up from the couch.

His eyes met mine, and I could tell it wasn’t good. He opened his mouth, seeming very hesitant.

“Someone found out… about my power.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hoped that chapter was as enjoyable as the last! I plan on consistently doing every odd chapter in Peter's POV and every even in Johnny's, so i think that'll be fun to do.
> 
> If you enjoyed it feel free to let me know!!! And if you hated it, feel free to let me know softly;;;;


	3. Friend or Foe?

DECEMBER 15th

* * *

 

 The next day was strange.

I got out of bed at eight, though that was only because Steve had called out to me, telling me breakfast was ready. I grudgingly got up, walking out to the kitchen with sleepy eyes and sluggish movements. I didn’t get much sleep last night – my brain being way more active than I had liked.

Dr. Richards wouldn’t leave my head for a second, and I hated every moment of it. It’s not like I could do anything about the situation. I contemplated whether I would go down again with Tony to see him, as if he tried anything, then at least Tony would have me there to protect him. Tony had JARVIS though, and in all honesty, JARVIS is probably the most threatening out of all of us, good and bad guys alike. I won’t go into detail, but needless to say, JARVIS is able to… exterminate any threats in seconds, _if_ Tony asks.

Besides, Mary Jane had asked me to see a movie with her, so it’s not like I could stand her up on… this date? Was this a date? I sure hoped she didn’t think that it was.

I ate my breakfast in silence, and while I would usually do this anyways, somehow Steve noticed that there was something wrong, though I began to speak before he had the chance.

“Would it be okay if I went out with a friend today?”

I would never ask permission for such a thing really, but it was my way of letting him know that I might have finally made a friend that didn’t work in the building.

“Sure. Where are you and Darcy going?” He asked.

“W…well it’s not exactly Darcy.” I mumbled, scratching the back of my neck.

“Oh?” This seemed to catch his attention. Besides Darcy, there wasn’t really anyone I knew that was relatively close to my age. “Are… you going with one of the Avengers?”

“No…” I didn’t meet his gaze once again.

There was a moment of silence before I could practically _hear_ Steve’s eyes widening.

“Oh Peter, please don’t tell me your going with Deadp-”

“No, no, no!” I assured him. “I’m definitely not going with him. I um… well yesterday at this coffee house, I ran into an old friend.” I could help but notice the way Steve’s eyes narrowed when I said, ‘old friend’. “She used to be my neighbour back when I was living with Aunt May and Uncle Ben.”

While he didn’t show it unlike my other father, Steve was a crazy worrywart. He trusted me always to make the right decisions, and my super-human strength and powers did help him ease his nerves, though there were times like this where he was nervous – with very good reason to be after all. I _am_ the son of two famous superheroes, and I am a _superhero_ myself, so I’m basically a kidnapper’s wet dream. Steve had every right to be weary of me being friendly with strangers.

I remember the night when the merc with a mouth, Mr. Deadpool, had followed me home after a successful bust, and considering before that moment, I never once told Tony or Steve I had been working with someone on said mission, nor _who_ that someone was, they had every right to throw a casket. It took a whole month for Tony to stop trailing me around and trying to shoot the man on sight.

“Peter…” Steve began. “You know I trust you one-hundred percent, right? I-it’s just…”

“I know, I know, I know,” I sighed. “But trust me, Steve, I’ll be more than fine. And if something goes wrong then I’ll shoot you a quick text before I get abducted, okay?” I couldn’t help but grin at the end of the sentence.

My joke didn’t seem to fly too well with the man, and while he gave me a hard stare, he merely sighed once I gave him a big grin.

“Okay… just be careful?”

“Promise!”

After breakfast I retreated to my room. I wondered what I was going to wear, as I didn’t exactly want to draw any attention to myself. I just wanted to be treated like a normal person that day. Hell, I wanted that everyday, but sometimes life doesn’t work out that way.

I settled on an old pair of jeans and a red hoodie. Something easily forgettable. I also made sure to wear my glasses, so my face would at least not be instantly recognizable. The glasses didn’t actually do anything for my eyesight, but like my mask, they felt like a shield. Now, I’d look like some random geek who’s going to the movies with a friend… hopefully. I took a small bag with me, and packed my suit and web-shooters just in case.

The clock struck nine when I reached the lobby. I kept my head down while walking past the front desk, praying to god that Darcy would be just as unobservant as usual. It was just my luck that that wasn’t the case.

“Yo, Spidey-man, where ‘ya headed off to?” Darcy piped.

I peaked my eyes over, trying (and failing) to give my most casual and totally non-suspicious glance.

“N-no where, just a stroll.”

Darcy seemed to lean back in her chair, eyes going wide with astonishment.

“You’re going to see that person from yesterday aren’t you… you really _were_ on a date!”

“No, no, I swear I wasn’t. I’m going to the movies with that girl I told you about yesterday.”

“A… date?” She questioned for real this time. I merely gave her a knowing look.

“Both _you_ and _I_ know it’s definitely not a date. I just hope she doesn’t think it is…”

“Aw, She’s gonna totally get the hots for you, Petey. Just let her down easy – or tell her you’re a flaming homosexual. Either would work fine.”

I rolled my eyes. “Great advice. I’ll make sure to keep it in my butt with your nose.”

“Ooo, already getting feisty today?” She gave a villainous grin.

“You’re utterly absurd, and I need to get going.”

“Have fun on your date, tiger.”

I let out a laugh, before strolling out the doors of the tower.

I didn’t exactly know _where_ I was meeting Mary Jane, so I shot her a quick text. After a few minutes of mindlessly roaming around on the sidewalk, she answered back, saying we we’re all going to meet at the coffee house we were at yesterday. I made haste towards said location, before something made me freeze in place.

“We’re… all?” I questioned.

Who was the _we’re_? Had she invited people? And were there a lot of them? My anxiousness only began to grow as my walking slowed down into stiff movements. I certainly wasn’t prepared for more than Mary Jane, and the more my foolish mind began racing with frantic thoughts, the more I began to panic. What was I to do if she brought a whole battalion with her? What if every single one of them knew who I was? I wouldn’t be able to handle such a social pressure. At least now I knew it certainly wasn’t a date.

I didn’t turn around and head straight back home though. That would be considered rude, and if there’s one thing my father (not Tony) taught me, it was to never be rude.

The coffee house soon came within sight, and I felt as though my heart was beating out of my chest, as if I were infiltrating some top-secret organization as Spiderman. It was so silly of me, but years of no social interaction besides family and _very_ close friends would do that to you, I guess.

The bell chimed when I robotically opened the door, just like yesterday. Unlike yesterday, it was much less packed. In fact, the only people besides myself were the cashiers and a small group sitting at a booth.

It was Mary Jane – along with her three friends. It wasn’t a battalion, but it made me nervous nonetheless.

The first to notice my approach was the blond-haired boy. His blue eyes so wide as they bore into mine, and I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. He was wearing a thick jacket, which made his muscular frame seem even larger.

“Hey, Peter!” Mary Jane called out once she noticed my arrival, she then shot a quick glance back at her friends to whisper what I thought was “And you guys doubted me”.

“Hi.” I said with a smile, though to them it probably looked horribly forced. Mary Jane then scooted in the booth, making as much room as possible, not at all worried about getting close to the dark-haired boy with the messy hair. I sat down, though at the very edge of the seat. The blond boy who I now sat across from never took his eyes off me.

“I’m so glad you came,” MJ said warmly, and I couldn’t help but smile at her – this time a sincere one.

“These are my friends.” She then gestured to the others. “This here is Harry.” She pointed to the dark-haired boy next to her.

“Hey, man.” He said casually, which caught me off guard. I honestly expected more than just a simple greeting. Was that egotistical of me?

MJ then moved on to the girl who sat across from Harry. “This here is Gwen.”

“Sup.” Gwen said with a half-grin. The grin was weirdly infectious, which had me doing the same while giving a wave.

“And over here we have Johnny.” MJ finished, pointing to the blond guy.

Johnny… The name suited him.

The boy didn’t give any sort of greeting, just a simple nod.

“Hi.” I mumbled, before turning my attention back to MJ.

“So, we were deciding on what movie to see. You have any preference?” She asked.

“Umm, not really, no. Anything’s fine with me.”

I strangely found myself warming up to the bunch very quickly, as they all began to bicker as to what movie they thought we should see. The more and more they spoke, the quicker I realised just how wrong my judgements were on all of them.

The boy named Harry may have looked like one of those cliché bullies, but he was by far the most soft-spoken and politest of them all. The girl named Gwen was not afraid to have her opinion be heard. She practically radiated confidence – something I wish I had. MJ seemed like the voice of reason throughout, and Johnny was by far the most intimidating, as like me, he never spoke once.

“Okay, so are we all settled on Face-Punch?” MJ asked the table. Everyone seemed to nod their heads, so I followed along out of courtesy. “Then let’s get going!”

I took that as my indication to stand up, and I quickly did so.

“Oh, but can you guys wait a sec? I’m dying to take a leak.” Gwen said. Her bluntness made me stifle a laugh.

“Good call. I’ll come with.” MJ said, to which Harry then said he needed to go as well, and one minute later I was left standing with Johnny.

He certainly was much taller than I was, which had even more so trying not to ogle at the boy. He was certainly nice to look at, but I wouldn’t let my eyes linger for long. I did not need him or anyone else getting suspicious.

Even as superheroes, Tony and Steve both face discrimination from various hate groups. While nothing really bothers Tony, Steve isn’t as resilient to the harsh words, and I don’t think I would be either. So, as far as anyone is concerned, Spiderman is in fact heterosexual.

“So, uh…” A voice spoke. My gaze shifted towards the tall boy, where he seemed to be scratching the back of his neck, not meeting my gaze. “You come here often?” His voice sounded soothing to hear.

I hadn’t realised just how dry my mouth was, and I ended up licking my lips a couple of times while trying to process the question he asked. The boy was trying to make conversation and was visibly uncomfortable with how awkward I was probably being.

“No… No, not really.”

He seemed as if he were going to say more, but MJ and Gwen suddenly returned, and Harry soon after.

“Alright, let’s get going!” MJ ushered.

They had taken a car to the coffee house, and soon enough we were all huddled into it. MJ was very gracious, as she let me take the passenger seat, and since Johnny was driving, I got to take quick peaks in his direction as we drove to the theatre. The two of us remained relatively silent while the three others chatted up the back seat with amusing commentary on things normal teenagers would talk about. One thing that had caught my attention was a supposed “Science project” they seemed to be doing for school. As much as I wanted to discuss it with them, I didn’t, as I felt as though it was not my place. Johnny soon parked the car in one of the various empty parking spots next to a theatre I had never seen before.

As we got out, I took a good look around, noticing just how little traffic or pedestrians there were.

That’s when I heard a voice in my ear.

“Figured you wouldn’t’ve wanted to be recognized, so I thought this spot might be good.” Johnny spoke, and I almost felt a shiver go down my spine. His breath was abnormally hot, which made me feel all sorts of things – all of which I didn’t want.

I learned early on to never get involved with non-supers as they could be easily used against me by the enemies I’ve made over the past few years, so that meant my choices in guys were very limited. I’ve only ever been in two relationships – one I had just gotten out of a few months back, so I wasn’t ready to go crushing on some normal guy that was probably heterosexual.

The few passersby’s that there were seemed to take notice of our little group – and more specifically myself, and that’s when I remembered just how idiotic I was being.

“Oh god…” I groaned, putting my hands into my face.

“Is there something wrong Peter? Do you not want to see a movie? We can do something else if that’s what you want to do.” I heard Mary Jane’s sweet voice ask, to which I turned to look at her.

“No no, it’s just… I just shouldn’t be here. If anyone saw us together – like anyone bad – it could be very dangerous for you guys. I don’t want any of you getting hurt because of me, so I should just leave-”

“Peter,” Mary Jane cut me off. “It’s okay, really. We’re kind of already used to that sort of thing.”

My brow scrunched, wondering what she could possibly mean by being ‘used to it’.

“See, Harry’s father is kind of a millionaire-”

“Kind of?” I questioned while looking over to the boy, who at first glance, wouldn’t seem like the kind of person to be rich. I mean he didn’t act like he was rich, but maybe that was just very narrowminded of me to think. When I did take a closer look, I could clearly tell that his clothes did look awfully expensive.

“Okay, well he is a millionaire, and we do sometimes run into ‘bad people’ as you would say, but it’s alright because…” I then noticed that she gestured unnoticeably to her right, and when I keenly glanced over, I scanned the area, to which my gaze narrowed down onto a man across the street in a sleek black suit, who _looked_ to be oblivious to our group.

“Harry’s dad sends men to follow us around – for our own safety of course.”

“Well that’s…” Creepy? Nice? I didn’t really know what to say about that.

MJ seemed to understand my failed attempt at what to say, as she, along with the rest of the group laughed.

“Yeah, it’s weird but you’ll get used to it.” Harry chuckled.

‘Get used to it’ I thought. It felt so strange that I barely knew these people, yet they were already thinking about having me around in the long run.

We went into the tiny cinema, and it was practically empty. MJ and Gwen announced they would get the food to which they quickly left, and I couldn’t help but curse under my breath as I was now stuck with Harry and Johnny. Don’t get me wrong though, both boys so far have been exceedingly nice to me, but I still didn’t know them. It’s not like I knew Mary Jane that well either, but at least me and her had some form of history that didn’t make us total strangers.

“Well I’m going to go to the bathroom. You guys mind getting the tickets?” He asked, though before either of us said anything, he pulled out a few bills out of his wallet and handed them over to Johnny.

“Didn’t you just go back at the coffee shop?” Johnny asked, his eyes narrowing at the boy as if he suspected something.

“I had a lot to drink.” Harry shrugged. “That should be more than enough for five tickets.”

That was my cue to cut in.

“Oh no, I can pay for my own ticket, really-”

“Peter, it’s fine, really. Today’s our treat after all!” The boy said before turning on his heels and heeding way towards the bathroom, not even giving me enough time to protest.

I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact of how nice these people were being to me. Did they want something from me in exchange? Did they plan to kidnap me and turn Steve’s worst nightmare into a reality? All the different scenarios boggled my mind as both me and Johnny got in line for the ticket counter.

“Oh shit.” Johnny said under his breath. I merely looked over at the boy with question.

“What’s wrong?”

He seemed to take a long glance at the person operating the ticket counter before leaning in next to me. “See that guy.” He then pointed to said person. He had blond hair, which was much darker than Johnny’s, though he too was built like stone, and had the look of someone who played lots of sports. “His name is Flash,” Johnny continued. “We go to the same high school as him, and well…”

“I’m guessing you guys don’t get along?”

“Yeah, you could say that.” He grinned sheepishly. The expression on him was too adorable not to stare at.

The people ahead of us then stepped out of line, and we then moved up to the front, though I immediately went off to the side, as I noticed just how close myself and Johnny were stood.

“Well well well,” The boy named Flash started. “if it isn’t Johnny Storm.”

“Hey, Flash.” Johnny seemed to give him a grin, though it seemed more forced than anything. “Where’s Ned to? I thought he usually worked on Saturdays.”

“Ned was… laid off, for the lack of a better word. Too lenient with handing out R-rated tickets to just about anybody.”

“Hmm, and for some reason they thought you’d be a good replacement?” Johnny raised a brow, as if he were accusing the man of doing the same.

“Well I wouldn’t do such a thing – as far as my manager knows.” I could hear the grinning in his voice.

“Right…” Johnny trailed off.

“Anyways, I ain’t got time for small talk, Storm, you either buy a ticket or get out of line.” The boy was very blunt.

Johnny then sighed. “Can I get five tickets for Face-Punch?”

Flash gave him a very troublesome look. “Oh, Johnny boy, Face-Punch is an R-rated movie, so I’m gonna have to see some ID.”

“Come on man, can’t you just give me the tickets?”

“No ID, no tickets.” Flash stood his ground.

Johnny scoffed at this, before turning to look at me with a defeated face. But just as fast as he admitted defeat, his face lit up with what seemed like an idea.

“Oh well then,” Johnny said louder than needed. “Sorry Peter, I know how badly you wanted to see Face-Punch, but it seems like it’s not gonna happen.” His lips seemed as though they were supressing a smile.

That’s when Flash’s head turned towards where I was stood, and a few moments passed before his eyes grew wider than what I thought possible.

“P-P-Peter… as in Peter Parker…? Like… _Spiderman_ Peter Parker.” The boy practically stuttered out. I merely looked towards Johnny with an unknowing expression of what was happening, though the little gleam in his eye told me everything.

I swiftly looked back towards Flash. “Yes, that’s me.” I nervously laughed while putting on a warm smile.

“Holy hell…” The boy breathed. “I-I can’t believe it’s really you, a-and I’m _talking_ to you!” He seemed quite excited.

“Oh, that’s right, you’re a fan of Spiderman, aren’t you Flash?” Johnny grinned. Flash only seemed to give the boy a death glare. “Oh well, I guess we better get going Peter.” Johnny sighed, before moving to turn away.

“W-wait!” Flash said before Johnny took his leave. “I uh…” He then began to fiddle around with the computer next to him, and soon enough he had five tickets placed on the counter. “I can uh… let this slide for now.”

“Really? Thanks, Flash.” Johnny grinned before passing over the cash. He then snatched the tickets off the counter and abruptly walked away without another word. I didn’t really know why Johnny didn’t seem to like Flash, but it wasn’t enough for me to make my own opinion on the boy. The only thing I saw him as was a person to genuinely liked Spiderman.

“Thank you again, Flash.” I said with a smile, while walking to follow Johnny, but not before noticing just how the boy’s eyes lit up after I said his name.

Johnny and I soon rendezvoused with MJ and Gwen, as they came towards us with five bags of popcorn and drinks. The sight of this turned my stomach, as I knew I should be the one buying them all stuff just for being so nice and welcoming to me.

“Have any troubles?” MJ asked us.

“Kind of… Flash was working the ticket booth today.”

“Aw shit, so you couldn’t get the tickets?” Gwen seemed disappointed.

“We almost didn’t, but luckily I remembered seeing Spiderman posters in Flash’s locker.” He grinned before looking over to me, and I couldn’t help but do the same. Johnny then pulled the tickets out of his pocket.

“Hell yes!” Gwen cheered, snatching one from his hand.

After Harry’s return we all walked through the building to get to our desired movie screening. Johnny really wasn’t joking about there not being many people, as the auditorium we were in was practically empty, so we got what I would say the best seats in the house. MJ sat in the middle of our group, with Harry and Gwen on her right, and me next to her, and Johnny to me.

The movie was gory to say the least, but in the worst way possible. There were zombies and guns and lots of fake blood. I couldn’t seem get into it, but I think a major aspect in that was the fact that Johnny constantly leaned on our shared arm rest the whole time, and I couldn’t help but lean in on reaction as I felt his warm aura hit me in a steady wave. It was strange how hypersensitive I was to his every moment, and every time our arms would brush up against each other. It was intoxicating, and I wanted nothing more than for it to never end, but the credits soon rolled around, and it did.

“That was amazing.” I heard Gwen sigh in happiness. I noticed MJ merely rolling her eyes with a grin before turning towards me.

“How did you enjoy it, Peter?”

“It was g-good…”

“I’d have to agree.” I heard Johnny say. I looked back at the boy, who seemed to have somewhat of a smirk on his face, while staring at me, and in that moment, I froze.

Had he notice just how weird I was acting? How we seemed to touch shoulders or arms more than what would be common? Or how I practically leaned into is body the entire time? Was he smiling because he knew I was attracted to him, as if that were somehow funny? All these questions wracked my brain and I didn’t know what was true or not, but what I did know is that I had to leave.

“Okay,” MJ said as we exited the theatre. “where are we going to next?”

“Maybe back to Johnny’s? I wouldn’t mind finishing the project today.” Harry said, to which Gwen and Johnny seemed to agree on.

“You okay with that, Peter?” MJ turned to ask with a politely. She was trying her hardest to make me feel comfortable, and for that I was so grateful, but I really was not okay with that. Not if _he_ was going to be there.

“I… um… I have some stuff to do today, s-so I think I’ll take a rain check if that’s okay…”

Everyone seemed to be surprised by this – Johnny more so than the rest.

“Oh, okay well that’s fine. Maybe another time then.” MJ gave a warm smile, though I could tell that she seemed to be bothered by my answer. I probably just hurt her feelings despite how warm and welcoming she had been to me the entire day, and I felt like pure garbage for it.

I had to fix it. I couldn’t mess up one of my only chances to have a friendship with someone in the normal world.

“Yeah, definitely. I really did have a lot of fun today, so thank you.” I said honestly with a smile, and the hint of disappointment she had seemed to wash away, as she now smiled brilliantly once again.

“Do you want a ride back to you’re… tower?” Johnny asked hesitantly, which surprised me, as only moments ago he seemed to be mocking me. Did I read his expression wrong? That couldn't possibly be the case.

“N-no that’s fine.” I waved him off. “You guys have done more that enough for me today, and I really appreciate that. Besides, it’d be nice to get some air, maybe bust a few criminals on the way, ya ’know?” I awkwardly smiled at the little joke I was making. The rest of them (Minus Johnny) seemed to laugh as well.

“Well you have fun with that.” MJ smiled before waving, to which I returned the gesture before saying my goodbyes and walking off, but not before hearing Gwen say that she wished she could ‘kick some bad guy butt’ with me.

***

I kept my word, as on my way back to the tower, I did manage to run into a robber who had stolen a pedestrian’s bag. But it didn’t stop there. I spent the rest of the day swinging around Manhattan, searching and acting on criminal after criminal, trying my hardest to stay busy.

After hours of steady patrol, I finally took a rest. My two feet hung over a red brick rooftop building, and my mask was rolled up as I chowed down on a hotdog while staring off at the sunset. Steve had texted not long before to ask if I would be home for supper, but I really didn’t feel like being around anyone at that moment.

I had a very amazing and privileged life – I knew that. So why did it seem like I was so unhappy with it? I guess the events of that day really triggered something inside me. Going to the movie theatre with friends? I couldn’t even recall the last time I had ever done that. The only friends I had were Darcy and a bunch of superheroes that were adults, and even the latter was debatable as I’m pretty sure the only reason the avengers tolerated me was because of the fact that I was Tony Stark and Steve Rogers’ son.

What had happened with MJ and her friends was something I always dreamed about having, and now there I sat alone on a rooftop, mourning over the fact that I messed it all up.

Maybe I was being a tad overdramatic, but I _definitely_ couldn’t hang out with them anymore after what had happened with Johnny. I was positive that he knew I found him attractive, and that was the reason he was smiling right? As if to mock me for liking him – for liking another guy.

Maybe it wasn’t so bad though. Maybe next time I could just hang out with MJ – and maybe even Gwen or Harry, as the two of them seemed nice enough. Surely the one chance at a normal friendship I had wasn’t destroyed right? That is unless Johnny had told them what had happened, and they now were all making fun of me back at Johnny’s place.

These ridiculous thoughts ravaged my brain enough for me to not even notice the figure that had approached.

I glanced to my right, seeing a masculine figure just standing there not moving. They wore a blue suit that hugged their body in a flattering way, and like me, they were a mask. The mask part was strange, as unless someone were a vigilante, a mask wasn’t needed, and I certainly haven’t seen this person around the block, so was he new to this gig? Or was he…

I stood up quickly, putting myself on the defense, wondering if this man was someone who had a bone to pick with Spiderman.

“And who might you be?” I asked in a low and warning tone while on the ready in case they tried to pull a sneaky move. But the opposite seemed to happen, as the man in the blue suit seemed to step back in shock for a second before regaining his posture.

“Oh, no no, I’m not an enemy.” They said quickly. “I uh… am kind of new to this whole thing, and while I was flying around the city I had spotted you and um… I figured I would introduce myself.”

I was surprised by how straightforward and harmless the man seemed to be despite looking pretty indimidating. He really was just new to this gig. I straightened my posture into a friendlier look.

“Sorry, this isn’t how encounters like this usually go for me.” I chuckled while scratching the back of my neck.

“Yes, of course,” He nodded before sticking out his hand. “I’m the Human Torch. I take it you’re Spiderman?”

“Yeah, that’s right. It’s nice to meet you, Torch.”

I then offered out my hand to give the other’s a firm shake, and an odd sense of familiarity overcame me as I noticed just how warm his was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That chapter took like half a year to write because fuck me, right?


End file.
